005 Irish Racing / Stuart Jones / 22 December 2010 /

Providing the cold snap relents, there promises to be plenty of top-class jumps racing taking place in Ireland over the Festive period, with Leopardstown's Christmas Festival due to stage no less than six Grade 1 contests.

With any luck, the close proximity of last Wednesday's re-re-re-re arranged Fairyhouse card won't have too much of a negative effect on the final entries, and the likes of Zaidpour, Tranquil Sea and Hurricane Fly will all be allowed to have a crack at another Grade 1 victory.

The rescheduled Grade 1 Bord Na Mana With Nature Novice Chase now looks set to be the highlight of the final day of the meeting and we could well see Mikael d'Haguenet bid to quickly make amends for his unlucky defeat in the Drinmore. Willie Mullins' top-class prospect, who will reportedly have an entry for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, looked to be getting on top last week until stumbling on landing after the last (jumped well otherwise), handing the race to Jessies Dream. He will be a warm order to get his chasing career back on track if turned out quickly. One opponent he may face is Punchestown maiden chase winner Noble Prince, who has the potential to take high standing among the novice chasers this season in light of his smart hurdles form and arrives fresh after Paul Nolan chose to swerve the Drinmore. Other interesting entries include the Edward O'Grady-trained Torphichen, who created a good impression when beating Cadspeed in a maiden chase at Clonmel recently, and Loosen My Load, bidding to give Henry De Bromhead a second successive win in the race after Sizing Europe's success last season.

The Paddy Power Dial-A-Bet Chase is the first of two Grade 1s to take place on Monday and looks a three-horse race even at this early stage. Last season's Champion Chase winner Big Zeb will face Golden Silver and Captain Cee Bee as he bids to win the race for the second time in three years. Golden Silver may have won a Grade 2 at Fairyhouse easily last time, but he's come up short against Big Zeb on each occasion the pair have met, including in the Fortria Chase at Navan this term, and there is little reason to think he can turn around that form. Captain Cee Bee took advantage of a straightforward task at Naas in October and, though successful in a Grade 1 novice chase at Punchestown on his final start last season, he still has it all to prove at this level.

The other Grade 1 on Monday's card is the Paddypower.com Future Champions Novice Hurdle and the Royal Bond winner Zaidpour could put his unbeaten record over hurdles on the line. Deeply impressive on both his starts in Ireland so far, Zaidpour is currently as short as [5.2] for the Supreme Novice Hurdle at Cheltenham and would clearly be the one to beat. If there is a potential fly in the ointment, though, it's John Joseph Hanlon's Hidden Cyclone. Unbeaten in a bumper and two starts over hurdles, Hidden Cyclone was backed as if defeat was out of the question prior to easily winning a Grade 3 novice at Navan last time and remains open to considerable improvement.

The Grade 1 novice chase for stayers takes place on Tuesday and it should prove an exciting renewal if the early entries are anything to go by. The Drinmore could again prove the key to solving this race, with Realt Dubh and Head of The Posse, second and third respectively at Fairyhouse, set to lock horns again. Both could well have more to offer over fences, though the former wouldn't be guaranteed to be suited by the step up to 3m and Head of The Posse was a shade unlucky not to finish ahead of him at Fairyhouse after blundering two out. Another one from the Willie Mullins yard that will be of interest is Quel Esprit. Smart as a novice hurdler last term, Quel Esprit looks set to take similarly high rank amongst this year's novice chasers if his win in a maiden at Limerick is anything to go by, impressing deeply with his sure-footed jumping and merely shaken up to see off the attentions of Torphichen.

The Lexus Chase (Grade 1) is the hightlight of Tuesday's card and an in-depth preview can be found here

The usual suspects take centre stage in the December Hurdle, with Solwhit looking to avenge his defeat at the hands of Hurricane Fly in the Hatton's Grace at Fairyhouse earlier this month. However, with Hurricane Fly likely to prove at least as good back at 2m, and with the benefit of that run under his belt, it's difficult to see how Solwhit can turn around that form.

'.$sign_up['title'].'

'; } } ?>

:

:

:

?

: